‘Bravo, I spent three marvellous days ’

The name doesn’t lie. There’s plenty of good cheer, from falcons to fireworks, for guests at this 19th-century mansion. With four rooms for civil ceremonies, and a host of atmospheric local churches, celebrations can embrace the main house or use a marquee for large parties.

‘I find it difficult to make any original comments,’ writes a Guide regular after this year’s visit to Tim and Stefa Hart’s much-loved hotel (Relais & Châteaux) with celebrated grounds reaching down to Rutland Water. ‘All the superlatives have been used by other guests.’

A ‘wonderful hotel’ with that ‘special feel’ of family ownership, Sue and James Murray’s manor house delights with its ‘history, beauty and style’.

‘We enjoyed our very expensive one-night stay,’ writes a reader who pushed the boat out at Jeremy Goring’s grand Edwardian hotel, the last of its kind in London to be run by the founding family.

‘My four-year-old loves Chewton as much as I do, it’s always a struggle to leave.’ ‘We stayed to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary, and it exceeded expectations.’

With ‘epic’ views across to Tresco and Bryher, the Francis family’s ‘really good hotel’ combines ‘a great setting’ with ‘fabulous historic features’.

‘We rate this very highly in almost every respect.’ Praise from a reader for Keith Makepeace’s much-loved, family-run, family-friendly, dog-friendly hotel in a ‘gorgeous’ coastal setting.

Handy for the racecourse, this William and Mary mansion, built for Sheffield cutler Thomas Barlow ‘in the Italian mode’, operates as a hotel and spa, ‘ideal for those seeking individual attention and pampering’.

A photographer’s dream, this Elizabethan manor house stands in gardens and parkland, with mountain views. A spa, oak-panelled drawing room, romantic four-poster suite, stone cottages with roses round the door. . . What more could you ask?

‘Another excellent stay,’ reports a Guide regular this year, after returning to Lawrence Hoskins’s ‘very traditional’ town-centre hotel, once a coaching inn on the old Great North Road.

A golden stone Carolean manor house-turned-rectory in an ‘idyllic setting’ is run as a ‘welcoming, comfortable and relaxing’ hotel, under highly experienced manager Dorian Charlton.

They get so much right at Lord and Lady Manners’s 17th-century manor house hotel. Expect a ‘friendly welcome’, ‘good ambience’, housekeeping ‘beyond reproach’ and ‘interesting old paintings’, many of members of the owners’ family.

When the proprietors are a Master of Wine and an interior designer, you can count on a smart bedroom and a decent vino. So it is at Julia and John Hoskins’s ivy-clad hotel, centred on a Georgian house, with the Great Ouse flowing just behind.

‘The place abounds with creative uses of old, mainly farm, paraphernalia.’ Guide inspectors enjoyed Nick Dent’s diverting Georgian farmhouse turned dog-friendly hotel with most rooms in converted outbuildings.

Up to 75 people can attend your garden wedding ceremony in the Gazebo at this smart hotel (smaller gatherings in the lounge, garden room and conservatory restaurant). You want a Daimler? A magician? A string quartet? They have the contacts.

On the idyllic shores of Loch Shiel, with views of Ben Nevis, this old stone mansion has a traditional, romantic air. Panelled walls are hung with paintings; there are log fires, fresh flowers, and Scottish meals cooked with a French twist. Whether you want a small civil ceremony, a sit-down meal for 50 or a marquee on the lawn, a coordinator will help plan the day. Book a cruise on the loch, bring the band, and make a floating ceilidh of it.

Lord Byron married Annabella Milbanke at this Georgian mansion turned spa hotel. The union didn’t fare well, but the hotel’s wedding packages, named after their brilliant daughter, Ada Lovelace, include everything from use of the ballroom to champagne.

‘Thank you for guiding me to this ideal hotel in the heart of the Welsh market town,’ writes a reader who chose William Griffiths’s family-run establishment for a celebratory 70th birthday stay this year.

Just above the beach, Lana de Savary’s hotel was newly built when Edward VII came by rowing boat for a Devonshire cream tea.

Sweet flows Rabbie Burns’s beloved River Nith, past the garden of an old manse that the poet knew well. Owned by Jane and Ian McAndrew, it is swept up from the Shortlist on a wave of reader approval.

‘One of the loveliest hotel experiences I’ve had in a long time,’ writes a Guide inspector in 2019, of a stay at this ‘romantic’ Georgian town house, ‘on a pretty square’ a stroll from the cathedral.

This ‘amazing’ restaurant-with-rooms in a converted 18th century malthouse overlooking the stunning Evenlode valley. Its new young and dynamic owner is Adam Taylor, and Michelin-starred chef Matt Weedon (a member of Slow Food UK’s Chef Alliance) has recently taken over the kitchen.

The ‘lovely’ walled garden surrounding this small hotel gives it a country house vibe in the middle of this historic market town.